This invention relates to a hand held, battery operated tool for cutting copper tubing and electrical conduit and for preparing such conduit and copper tubes and fittings for connection.
Plumbers and electricians must cut tubing to provide lengths suitable for use in installing plumbing systems and electrical conduits. While there have been powered cutters for many years, commercially available machines can hardly be considered to be portable. Proposals for hand held tools have had shortcomings that presumably resulted in a lack of commercialization. As a consequence, tubing and conduits are typically cut at a job site by a tradesman using a manually operated cutter. In many cases, a freshly cut tube is reamed to remove inwardly directed flashing that results from the cutting operation. As with tube cutting, the reaming operation is typically performed manually.
When a copper plumbing system is being installed it is necessary to burnish the outside diameter of tubing and the inside diameter of fittings in order that solder of a sweat joint will firmly and properly adhere to each tube and fitting being joined.
Since the described and other steps in preparing plumbing and electrical components for installation had been performed manually, there is need for a cordless, hand held, power operated tool for performing such cutting and burnishing operations.
The present invention provides a portable, hand held, battery operated tool for cutting copper tubing and electrical conduit. The tool preferably includes a power operated shaft for removably receiving deburring tools and brushes for preparing tubing ends and fittings to be secured together by sweat joints.